8.2: Inequality in the American Education System

Funding and Academic Inequality

  • Schools are underfunded by $150 billion annually
  • Funding gaps are wider and more likely to occur in school districts that are low income, in the Southern US, and predominantly black or hispanic
Facilities
  • 1/4 of US schools are categorized as “fair” or “poor”
  • More than 1/2 of US schools are worse than “good”
  • The structure of school buildings greatly influence learning
Services
  • Mental health services
    • In 2019, 14 million students attended school with a police officer on duty but no school counselor, social worker, or nurse psychologist
  • Academic achievement
    • Poverty gap: the achievement gap between poor and non-poor learners
    • Status dropout rate: the percentage of 16- to 24-year-olds who are not in school and have not earned a high school degree or its equivalent
  • Discipline
    • Racial gap in school suspensions and expulsions among students ages 5-9 → teachers treated students discriminatorily
    • School-to-prison pipeline: the established relationship between severe disciplinary practices, increased rates of dropping out of school, lowered academic achievement, and court or juvenile detention
  • Teachers
    • Extremely low teacher recruitment/retention due to low pay, difficult working conditions, controversial efficacy-measurement initiatives
Crime
  • Students most likely to report criminal victimization at school are male, Indigenous Americans, ninth graders, and students attending urban public schools
  • In 2018, 71% of public schools recorded at least one or more violent incident, 21% recorded one or more serious violent incident, 33.4% recorded one or more theft, and 59.8% recorded one or more other criminal offense
  • Less than 3% of the total youth homicide rate, and proportionately even fewer suicides, take place on school property
  • Sexual assault on campus
    • Recent survey found that approximately 13% of students experienced nonconsensual sexual contact during their enrollment at school
    • Rates are higher among women and transgender, genderqueer, and non-binary students
    • Most students who had been victimized did not report the assault to local police or administration
Bullying
  • In 2018, 1 in 5 students, ages 12–18 reported being bullied at school or while going to and from school
Higher Education
  • Inaccessible
    • In the first quarter of 2019, U.S. student debt approached the $2 trillion mark, a total larger than the sum of all auto and credit card debt
    • Increased cost of college while student aid covers less
    • Underfunding of community colleges
  • For-profit colleges
    • Serve predominantly students from low-income family backgrounds
    • Have dismal graduation rates
  • Community colleges
    • Minority students, low-income students, and women are more likely to enroll in community colleges
    • Eleven states have free college programs in place

Understanding Educational Inequality

  • Educational reform continues to be the focus of legislators and governments globally
  • Common focuses of reform include:
    • Investment in teacher education and methods
    • Addressing income inequality
    • Support of children